


taking back whats yours

by ShyAudacity



Category: Riverdale (TV 2017)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Badass Jughead, Bullying, Cuddling & Snuggling, Dysphoria, Fights, Good Parent Fred Andrews, Hurt/Comfort, I Wrote This Instead of Sleeping, M/M, Protective Jughead Jones, Punk Jughead, Slow Burn, Surgery, Trans Archie, Trans Character, Trans Jughead Jones, Transphobia, ill add more tags if need be, not detailed but it happens so, sort of idk
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-12-28
Updated: 2017-12-28
Packaged: 2019-02-23 03:34:54
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,348
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13181505
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ShyAudacity/pseuds/ShyAudacity
Summary: “H-Hey, I’m Archie.”New kid looks up at him and holy shit he’s got the prettiest eyes that Archie’s ever seen.“I’m Jughead.”“Jug- head?”His jaw tightens, “Yeah… something wrong with it?”“No,” Archie says on a laugh. “No, I think it’s awesome.”ORArchie and Jughead don't meet until high school, and they have more in common than you'd think.





	taking back whats yours

**Author's Note:**

  * For [coffeecold](https://archiveofourown.org/users/coffeecold/gifts).



> My last fic of 2017, wow. 
> 
> Unbeta'd and title from Body, Infinitive by Sam Rush.

Archie is almost seventeen when he finally meets someone else like him.

The new kid from out of town has a permanent scowl, ripped jeans, and a beanie that covers messy black hair. There’s a patch on the shoulder of mystery man’s jean jacket; it’s the trans pride flag, the same one that he has a poster of in his room. When he comes down the hall, it’s like one of those slow-motion movie moments, everyone around seems to stop and stare, enraptured by the all-out brashness of the new student’s façade.

Archie takes a liking to him immediately.

His friend, Betty, from next door says that she has English with him.

“I don’t remember what his name is, but it’s something weird. He didn’t say much.”  

It turns out that the new kid has chemistry with him. Archie tries to keep his voice from being too high when he introduces himself, taking the spare seat next to him.

“H-Hey, I’m Archie.”

New kid looks up at him and holy shit he’s got the prettiest eyes that Archie’s ever seen.

“I’m Jughead.”

“Jug- head?”

His jaw tightens, “Yeah… something wrong with it?”

“No,” Archie says with a laugh. “No, I think it’s awesome.”

***

Archie and Jughead end up having two more classes together, and they become fast friends. As luck would have it, they have the same taste in music and movies. Over the next few weeks, the two of them hang out more outside of school, and Archie begins to realize that he’s got a massive crush on Jughead.

He makes an executive decision not to tell Jughead about his feelings. He doesn’t want to mess things up, and Archie still hasn’t technically come out to him yet. He knows, on some level, that Jughead isn’t going to care, probably won’t even bat an eye at him, but Archie is still nervous. He’s been rejected for being trans in the past, he can’t imagine what he’d do if he were somehow wrong about all of this.

Three months in, they’re at pops when a waitress passing their table stumbles, spilling a drink down the front of Jughead’s white t-shirt. He gasps when the cold liquid comes into contact with his skin.

“Shit.”

“Oh god, I’m so sorry, I didn’t-.”

“It’s fine- just, crap- it’s fine.” Jughead says, running into the bathroom before she can say anything else.

Archie gives it a few minutes before he grabs his stuff and follows Jughead, rapping his knuckles against the bathroom door after realizing that it’s been locked.

“Jug? …Can I come in?”

A muffled voice comes from inside, “Is it just you?”

“Yeah, yeah, it’s just me, I promise.”

There’s a pause, then the latch clicks and Archie slips inside.

Jughead is standing at the sink, grumbling under his breath as he tries to dry his shirt with paper towels.

“The one day that I don’t bring a fuckin’ jacket- soaked my binder, stupid see-through shirt.”

He grunts loudly, throwing the paper towels at the mirror, bracing his hands against the sink.

Archie reaches into his own bag, pulls out the spare sweatshirt and t-shirt that he carries around with him. He holds it out towards Jughead, waving his arm when Jughead looks at him funny.

“Take it. Seriously. You can give it back after your stuff dries.”

He smiles a little.

“Thanks, Arch… do you mind, uh-.”

“Oh, yeah sure, sorry.” Archie rambles, turning his back as Jughead begins to pull his wet shirt and binder over his head. As much as he wants to, Archie doesn’t look; he knows first hand how bad it sucks to know that people are always staring at you, no matter what the reason is.

Jughead clears his throat after a minute, Archie turns around just as Jughead is pulling the sweatshirt over his head.

“Thanks, for not freaking out.” He says.

Archie starts speaking before he can stop himself.

“Well, we’re in the same boat so- it wouldn’t be very cool of me to judge, now would it?”

Jughead nods, smirks a little, a knowing look on his face.

“I guess I don’t have to ask you not to tell anyone then, do I? Are you on T?”

“Not yet,” Archie says. “But my birthday isn’t too far off, so I hoping to start then. You?”

He shakes his head, “Nah, but luckily I was a colicky baby, so my voice is just generally raspy. Are you out at school or-?”

“Half the school already knows, it wouldn’t matter much if you said anything.” 

It wasn’t until puberty hit that his classmates realized that Archie wasn’t like all of the other boys at school. Middle school and the start of high school was rough, he lost a lot of friends during those times, lost people that he thought that he could trust. Now, after everything that’s happened, after meeting Jughead, he’s just glad to have a friend that knows exactly what he’s going through.

Jughead pauses in front of Archie on his way out the door, he speaks in a low tone, an almost devilish grin on his face.

“Well I guess it’s good that I don’t have anyone else to tell.”

***

Archie is walking to lunch with Jughead, making plans to see a movie later that week when Reggie starts berating him from down the hallway.

“Hey, _lady parts_ ,” He calls out. “See any good drag race shows lately?”

Archie rolls his eyes, planning to ignore it, but Jughead, on the other hand, stops dead in his tracks, turns on his heels to face Reggie.

“What did you just say to him?”

“Jug, don’t-.”

“I was just asking a question,” Reggie continues. “You know your friend is a liar, right? All of this is fake, just some big show. You see, underneath all this is just some _stupid girl_ who doesn’t know what she’s-.”

Jughead cuts him off by decking him in the face, hard. Next, he grabs a hold of Reggie’s shoulders, getting a good grip so that he can ram his knee into Reggie’s stomach. Jughead doesn’t stop until Archie finally pulls him off.

Reggie stumbles back, halfway supported by one of the goons that had appeared behind him, holding a hand against his bloody nose.

Jughead snarls, “Go near him again and I’ll do more than just hurt you. Understood?”  

He gives a half assed scoff, spares a glance at Archie before retreating in the opposite direction.

Jughead turns back around, takes his backpack from Archie’s grip.

“You didn’t need to do that.” Archie tells him.

He shakes his head.

“People don’t get to talk to you like that… not if I have anything to say about it.”

Archie can’t explain why, but it makes his heart soar.

***

This is the worst day that Archie’s had in ages. He got dead named because the teacher hadn’t told the sub about the situation ahead of time, got detention for being late, and nothing about his body feels right. That last one isn’t out of the ordinary for him, but it feels ten times worse today, he can’t explain why.

Dysphoria is being a bitch more than usual. The binder is too tight, too suffocating, the muscles in his back hurt like nothing he’s ever felt before. He did not ask for this, to be put into a body that does not fit him, that _betrays_ him. He wishes that this body didn’t belong to him, wishes that for once he could be someone else. Wants to be just like every other boy that he’s ever met, wants to feel _real_ for once.

Archie nearly jumps out of skin when he comes into the kitchen after school and finds Jughead sitting on the counter.

“Jesus- what the hell are you doing here?”

Jughead hops down, pulling a confused face.

“Your dad let me in. We’re supposed to study for calculus, remember? What’s going on? You seem upset.”

Archie huffs, rubbing his hands over his face as he takes up the space on the counter where Jughead once was.

“It’s just- I hate this. I hate that this is the body that I had to get _stuck with_. I hate that I have teachers that don’t know better to tell subs that what’s on the roll call isn’t actually my name. I hate that my mom still thinks that this is something that I’m going to _grow out of_. I wish that things were different. God, Jug, I just want to feel like myself for once, like a real dude, you know? And no matter what I do I can’t-.”

“Hey, don’t, don’t do that, Arch.”

Jughead gets in Archie’s personal space, looking him in the eye with a fierce kind of sincerity, resting his fingers over Archie’s heart.

“You’re a boy, right here, where _it matters_. No one is gonna take that away from you. Okay? Nothing that anyone says can change who you are.”

Archie nods, feeling his chin tremble.

“You want a hug?”

He nods again, slinking his arms around Jughead’s shoulder and pulling him closer. He thinks to himself: _I don’t know what I would have done if I’d never met you._

In the midst of the hug, Jughead says: “For the record, you’re the best lookin’ dude that I’ve ever met.”

***

Fred comes into the kitchen with a grin on his face, slides an envelope across the table.

Archie and Jughead share a curious look with each other.

“My birthday was last week.” Archie states. “You said that starting T was going to be my gift.”

He’s all kinds of stupid excited to start Testosterone in a few days. Jughead has already agreed to come along for the appointment, to be there when the magic happens. He smiles like an idiot every time that he thinks about it.

“I know I said that, but you’re gonna like this. Just open it.”

Archie continues to give his dad side-eye as he reaches for the envelope, opening it slowly. His eyes skim the words as he reads the paper.

“What is it?” Jughead asks.

_THE COURT ORDERS… under the city of Riverdale… Archibald Benjamin Andrews… APPROVED._

Archie throws his hand over his mouth, tears pricking at his eyes. This is it, this is what he’s always wanted since he was six years old.

“That the one you wanted right?” Fred asks. “That’s the middle name you always talked about having, right?”

Archie nods, a small cry escaping his mouth.

“Arch, what it is?” Jughead tries again.

“I-I got it,” He says shakily. “I got my name changed. Oh my god.”

Fred comes around to other side of the table where his son is, hugging him tightly. Archie hugs back as tightly as he can, crying happily into his father’s shirt.

“I love you so much, kid. You know that?”

Archie nods, unable to articulate how fucking great he feels right now. He can’t believe, it’s real now, he’s officially Archie Andrews, no one can tell him he’s wrong about who he is anymore. Everything is finally falling into place. After a minute, he pulls Jughead into the hug, wanting to share this moment with him more than anything else.

Jughead rubs a hand down Archie’s back, taking a look at the paper for himself.

“Seriously though, what the hell kind of a name is Archibald?”

“Shut up,” Archie says, laughing a little. “I was six, I thought it was awesome… it still is.”

***

The two boys are in Archie’s bed after watching a movie, halfway to falling asleep when Jughead speaks up.

“How did you know?” Jughead asks quietly.

Archie rolls over in bed to face him.

“Know what?”

“How’d you know that I’m trans? You weren’t freaked out at all when you came into the bathroom that day at Pop’s and, and I don’t remember telling you so- how?”

Archie shrugs, “I saw the patch, on your jean jacket. The trans pride flag one and- I don’t know, I guess I just assumed. Is that bad?”

Jughead smiles a little, shaking his head.

“No, no that’s…”

The next thing that he knows, Jughead is pressing his mouth against Archie’s, kissing him quickly before pulling away.

 _He kissed me. Holy shit Jughead kissed me. Crap, I should say something now. He’s starting to look at me funny._   

“I was wondering if you were ever going to do that.”

Both of them laugh, moving to kiss again. They fall asleep twenty minutes later, curled around each other, feeling the safest and most at peace that either one of them has been in years.

***

Everything is foggy when he wakes up; something is tickling the inside of his nose. Archie can’t remember falling asleep, and he knows for certain that this is not his bed. He can hear two people talking somewhere nearby, one of them sounds a lot like his dad. Curious, he flexes his hands just to make sure that they’re still there and realizes that someone is holding one of them.

Archie tries with all his might to look over at who’s holding his hand, but his head barely moves an inch.

“Hey pretty boy,” A quiet voice says. “You awake?”

Archie slurs, “Juggie?”

“Yeah, yeah, baby it’s me.”

_Ah. Good. My boyfriend is here. I like him. He’s the best. I think I’ll keep him._

Jughead snorts and Archie realizes he must have said all that out loud.

“What’re we doing here?”

“You had your top surgery today, remember?”

“I did?”

Jughead laughs a little. “Yeah, you did.”

Archie hums, his eyes falling shut again as Jughead kisses his hand. He’s sure that he’s going to enjoy this more later when he isn’t being pumped full of drugs, but for now he thinks that he could sleep some more. It sounds like the best option, but first there’s something that he needs to do.

“Juggie?”

“Yeah, Arch?”

“Am I a real boy now?”

“Of course, Archie… you always were.”

Before he falls asleep, he decides that this is, in fact, the best day of them all.

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks for reading! Please leave a comment or a kudos, you can come talk to me about Riverdale on tumblr as archieandrewsprotectionsquad. Have a great day.


End file.
